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  • Xex360 - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    The weird is this supposedly mid range phone has more features than the more expensive one.
  • beluga - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    A series don't have wireless charging and not waterproof, both of which are important to me. Otherwise great phone.
  • melgross - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Water resistant. Nothing is waterproof.
  • philehidiot - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    I am water proof.
  • Threska - Sunday, June 30, 2019 - link

    Toilet:"Then why are you leaking?"
  • philehidiot - Saturday, July 6, 2019 - link

    I can say only this.

    Boom.
  • Namisecond - Sunday, July 7, 2019 - link

    Would like to see you try and pass any of the IP ratings for water resistance...drowning = failure.
  • Doku253 - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    It has a headphone jack but the 3a's lack a 2nd front facing camera, IP rated water resistance, UFS storage specification, wireless charging, Pixel Visual Core, Spectral/Flicker sensor and free unlimted original quality photo backup that the higher priced Pixel 3's have.
  • yacoub35 - Thursday, July 4, 2019 - link

    I would gladly trade Google no longer having a copy of all my personal photos for the addition of a headphone jack.
  • edwpang - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    Yeah, I replaced my oneplus 3 with a Xiaomi Mix 2s a while back. The oneplus 3 was working except for broken display when I bought the new one. I kept going back to oneplus for the convenience of 3.5mm plug. With the new Mix 2s, I have to either use bluetooth or converter which I always have to look for when I need it. Bluetooth has the obvious drawback of battery life and also latency in 10s of milliseconds. I noticed this when I practise singing, I am seeing quarter note even half note delay when using bluetooth. Now the oneplus 3 is dead! Next time, I'll definitely keep this in mind.
  • jjj - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    400$ and up is high end by any standard, not mid range.
  • Megatomic - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    In a world where flagships cost ~$1K USD you believe $400 USD is high?
  • RSAUser - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Yes, 400 is starting flagship if you look at what's currently in the "mid range" section. Just because Apple made everyone up flagship prices, doesn't mean all our budgets went up.
  • Hrel - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link

    Couldn't agree more, $400 still stands as my absolute max. Sony offers vastly superior products for the price, granted you gotta wait 3-6 months after release but legit, who cares?

    I have no idea why Anandtech doesn't review Sony phones, especially when they're so vastly superior to so much else, especially Huwai which they shouldn't even be mentioning on here. Chinese crap.

    Huwaii is communist evil crap, get it off this site!
  • piroroadkill - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    You're thinking relative - that's meaningless - thinking in absolute terms in this case is much more useful. Yes, phones that cost more than 400 USD could easily be considered expensive.
    The fact flagships cost a grand is irrelevant - the pricing they've decided on is beyond ridiculous - it doesn't mean our window should shift
  • sonny73n - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    “In a world where flagships cost ~$1K USD you believe $400 USD is high?”

    In your small world maybe. I still can’t believe that this day and age where we have all the infos on the internet, most people in the West still have their heads stuck in the toilet. Not many of them how much, say an iPhone cost to manufacture. They only instantly believe the phone worth at its retail price. When something only costs about $350 to manufacture, labor and all, but sell to you for more than $1k is nothing but a rip-off. Capitalism at its finest.

    Yoi can get a flagship phone for less than &400. You just have to get your head out of the toilet first.
  • tuxRoller - Thursday, July 4, 2019 - link

    Yes, ONLY in the West=_=
  • AdditionalPylons - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    High end refers to the statistical distribution of prices. For smartphones nowadays, $400 is definitely not the high end.
    As the prices have gone up over the last years, so does the level which depend on the distribution, such as the terms "high-end", "mid-range" and "low-end".
    That said, I agree that $400 and can still be described with the words "expensive", "a lot of money", "not worth it" etc., but then we're more into subjective terminology.
  • warreo - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Obvious troll is obvious.
  • PeachNCream - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Agreed, pricing is way out of line and there are many, many more affordable options out there. Just because the maximum price for a phone is far north of $1k these days does not mean that dividing by two results in mid-range. That is a delusional state of mind the industry would like to promote and only a few people are mindless enough to buy into.
  • zodiacfml - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Poor value as the Pixel 3. At $400, one can get a Samsung S8 with a Snapdragon 835 so it also fails in North America.
  • nathanddrews - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    ... but you don't get a very good camera.
  • shabby - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    But you get a slow soc with the pixel, two can play this game. I think the s8 is a more balanced solution than a midrange phone with a great camera.
  • Samus - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    The S8 has a pretty good camera...I mean, we're comparing Oranges to Oranges here - with the exception of low-light, I don't think people shopping for $400 phones are going to notice a difference between the Pixel 3 and S8 cameras...

    And the S8 is waterproof. And it has Qi wireless charging. And a faster SoC.

    I don't see how the Pixel 3 is going to be a hit using its slightly superior camera as a crutch.
  • phoenix_rizzen - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    But it has stupid rounded edges to the screen, making the S8, S9, S10 non-options for a lot of people. It's nice they went back to flat screen edges with the S10e, but they just had to add the hole-punch screen.

    The last great phone from Samsung was the S7. The only decent replacements from Samsung are in the A-series of phones.
  • Cellar Door - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    S7 battery life is poor compared to what is on the market today, the camera has great auto-focus but produces worst pictures then the s6 did. I've owned both, upclose s7 is good but any landscape or long distance and its blurry.
  • MadManMark - Monday, July 1, 2019 - link

    You lost me as to why it's "people shopping for $400 phones" that aren't going to notice difference between two cameras. Implying that anyone who is looking to spend more money somehow becomes magically more discerning of differences?
  • Quantify - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    It doesn't really fail; it's a different option. I went with the 3a over a 2 year old flagship for a few reasons:

    1) Size. The 3a is a great size for one-handed use, to fit in a pocket, etc.
    2) Camera. Night sight and other features. Nuff said in this article.
    3) Updates. Not just security updates, but entry into beta program, and newest features (like call screening)
    4) Bands: has Band 66 and Band 71 for T-Mobile. Older flagships (including S8) often don't.
  • Samus - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    That's an interesting point. I didn't think of the superior LTE modem.
  • haukionkannel - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Very True. S7 did just drop out of upgrades. S8 will be in same situation next year. So yep you get Phone for longer time buying Pixel 3a compared To old flagship.
  • Threska - Sunday, June 30, 2019 - link

    How many of the "dropped phones" will have alternative firmware (implying unlocked boot-loaders)?
  • MadManMark - Monday, July 1, 2019 - link

    I went with those four reasons plus one more:

    5) When it came out the Google Store offered a deal where you could get $250 trade-in for an iPhone 6, and on top of that give you a $100 googel store credit. I didn't have an iPhone 6s, but bought a refurb for $60 and mailed that in. So net cost of new Pixel 3a was $210, and a $100 google store credit came with it.
  • voicequal - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Pixel is as much about the software value as hardware. Samsung phones are getting cluttered with unwanted or inferior software (e.g. Bixby). It's even worse if you buy from a carrier and get all the shopping apps, fortunately some can be uninstalled. The pixel direct from Google is the best way to get a clean Android phone.
  • Ratman6161 - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    On Samsung phones, Package Disabler Pro is your friend :)
  • Oyeve - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    There has not been "carrier bloat" in years.
  • Ashinjuka - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Nor software updates.
  • tuxRoller - Thursday, July 4, 2019 - link

    Sure, buy a slower phone that's over two years old, has worse battery life and camera. Who wouldn't sign up for that?
  • UtilityMax - Thursday, August 1, 2019 - link

    The Best Buy price is 500 without activating a new line (I don't do business with sketchy people out of ebay) and Android Pie is the last update this phone will receive.

    Also don't forget that the Pixel 3A has MSRP exactly at 400 bucks, will receive updates for three years.
  • Sparkyman215 - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    I still use an OG Pixel XL and this 3a looks like it has pretty similar specs, but with a better camera, better screen ratio, larger battery, and better CPU. While not huge jumps, at $480, it's neat to see how it's better than my ~$900 3 year old phone.
  • Quantumz0d - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    In NA also this will fail. Most of the NA market is based off Carrier financing options then there is a mindset of iPhone esp the SE and the latest 7.

    Then we get to the Samsung phones S9 all being available at Bestbuy for $400 to 500 Brand new unlocked. LG G7 is also there unlocked at less
    Although LG is not great in numbers but after Apple, Samsung, LG sells a lot. Then perhaps OnePlus and Honor.

    Ebay, Exynos Note 9 is at $550 and far cheap for all flagship phones from Sammy and LG again. Impossible to beat any of these Discounted flagships.

    Then we have Zenfone 6, all these phones have UFS + SD slot which is mandatory. Even Motorola has them in all phones.

    Google is just too fucking greedy. Stupid SoC and cheap build. The OLED is not bright, no SD slot. Priced at $500.

    Asian market this is DOA.
  • UtilityMax - Thursday, August 1, 2019 - link

    The low Best Buy prices are for those who are activating a new carrier line. Without activation, the S8 is 500USD, and S9 is 600.

    I'll take a 400 Pixel 3A easy. Besides price, no round edges is a great win.
  • Alistair - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    My nephew trashed the babysitter's phone and needed to buy a new one recently. I really wanted to buy a Pixel 3A, but it is absolutely trashed by the value of the A50 from Samsung imo. $375 vs $550 in Canada.
  • Stormbolter - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    I would like to point that for the rest of the world, Google offers a clean Android Experience that Xiaomi, Huawei or Honor don't offer on the same price range - although Xiaomi, Nokia and Motorola do offer Android One devices, these are lower end, with worse camera and screen.

    And that the price difference fails to include VAT. Pixel 3a retails for 399/479€ in Spain. The Mi9 retails for ~449€ in the amazon marketplace, but stores (and phone providers) sell it for about 499€. Of course, if you're willing to forego warranty and such, you can import the phone for less, but then... so can someone living in USA (as long as they stick to GSM providers).

    Finally, Chinese flagships have all but done away with the phone jack, and middle class offerings tend to be lacking the good camera and screen flagships have.

    So, Pixel 3a /3a XL is a good option if you want a clean Android Experience, with a decent camera and screen, at a reasonable price.
  • Andrei Frumusanu - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    The Mi9 is 393€, VAT included, directly from Xiaomi on Amazon.de
  • eastcoast_pete - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Xiaomi phones like the Mi9 can also be had in the US (Amazon and other online retailers). A possible alternative if one sticks to the GSM-based carriers (AT&T, T-MOBILE). However, make sure at least some of the LTE channels are covered by the modem.
  • RSAUser - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    The Nokia devices are definitely not lower end.
    The Nokia 8.1 has a better SoC, which is clocked higher plus HDR support for camera, with a slightly worse battery but the SoC is more power efficient and also has a Google Camera port. It delivers all of that at about 350 EUR inc. of taxes, but sadly not available in the U.S. for you folk.
  • voicequal - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    The headphone jack brought me to the Pixel 3a. It's been great so far. Now if dedicated home and back buttons would make a comeback, UI productivity would be back up to where it was on my first Android phone.
  • imaheadcase - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    No idea why "reviews" post how a phone looks or is "prone to scratches". Everyone uses a case anyway with a phone. You see many car reviews about them worry about scratches on them? Nope, its about the insides and engines.

    Just stop with the headphone jack nonsense, its not a big deal at all. Every test shows people can't tell a different sound wise vs wired with a phone. I've yet to find anyone in real world who cares. Hell most people prefer bluetooth over wired anyway for workout, running, work, etc.
  • Ratman6161 - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Have to agree on the looks of a phone. My beautiful blue S9+ had a black plastic case on it before I even left the store. Its too darned expensive to take a chance on using it case-less.

    On the headphone jack...thats another matter. I have a set of blue tooth headphones (used with a TV set, not my S9). Sound quality is fine for my purpose. The problem is that they have a battery. So yet another thing that needs to be kept charged. Workout + running? Why would I want to run with a big honking phone strapped to my arm? For that I need something simple and cheap which is why I'm using my trusty old SanDisk MP3 player.
  • Inteli - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    I'm so glad you're here to tell all us plebians what we need and what we don't need. Of course nobody needs wired headphones! We also don't need anything above 128kbps MP3s. You're lying if you say you can hear a difference. You also don't need a car. Everybody in the city gets by fine without them! Your opinion is obviously the only one that matters and every reviewer should cater to exclusively what you think is important.
  • RSAUser - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    /looks at phone without a screen protector that's over 2 years old without any scratches
    What are you talking about? Depends on the person.
  • Oyeve - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    And most people are idiots who don't care about sound quality. Thats why there are so many bitch-buds on the market. For those of us who actually own very good headphones we all know blue headphones are garbage. We want loud high quality sound and BT does not come even close. I use a Fiio amp and good wired headphone on all of my phone because BT sucks.
  • grant3 - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    The idea that plastic is "more prone to dents & scratches" than aluminum is laughable.
    The idea that plastic is "less durable" than glass is laughble.
    Yet this author is happy to make such a claim with literally no experience let alone proof to support his assertion.
  • fred666 - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    plastic is the superior choice because it is light, lets the magnetic waves through and absorbs (some of) the shock instead of breaking like glass or transmitting it to the components like metal.
  • MadManMark - Monday, July 1, 2019 - link

    I know, I consider the plastic a feature, not a compromise!
  • deskjob - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    I must be an unicorn. I stopped using a case with the OG pixel. Haven't looked back. Maybe I am more careful or less clumsy when it comes to gadgets. I've dropped it once from about 4ft onto sidewalk, fortunately only got minor chip around one corner. Otherwise the no scratches anywhere. So yeah that info matters to me.

    Also headphone jack is one of the main reasons I am even considering the 3a XL. True, most people don't care because they don't care about sound quality in general. That's cool. There are still some people out there who do care about sound quality. I use a bluetooth speaker for podcasts, but wired for anything else.
  • nucc1 - Sunday, June 30, 2019 - link

    You get the case for that once or twice a year drop just like you. This way, you're far less likely to need repairs and it's more freedom from worrying about your phone.

    Without a case, the phone can start looking really worn out after a year and it might make you replace it sooner than you have to.
  • MadManMark - Monday, July 1, 2019 - link

    You're not alone. If people like to spend $1000 on a phone and then wrap it up in quasi-bubble wrap to make it chunky, that's fine. I like to buy phones for just a few hundred (due to their trade-in program this one cost me $210 net, after I bought an iPhone 6 to trade in) and then just USE it. I put on a screen protector, but as far as a case: if there is a scratch on the plastic back, there is a scratch. It doesn't affecgt anything, and I'll be upgrading in a few years again anway. Who is always looking at the BACK of their phones in the first place?
  • grant3 - Friday, July 5, 2019 - link

    I think the screen on the 3a xl is probably stronger than the body.

    I bought a case for mine because i drop it a lot, but for the last few years people have been starting to convince me the screen protector is not really needed.
  • melgross - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Very high quality polycarbonate? I’ve done extensive work in materials; wood, metal and plastic. I’ve used numerous brands of polycarbonate. They are all the same.

    The differences between utilization is what you’re noticing. Differing thicknesses, differing tapering of the thickness over the sheet used in the body. Differing curves, giving different impressions as to strength and resistance to indentation from pressure, etc.

    The different textures also leave thoughts as to quality. But the plastic is all the same. Pretty much exactly so.

    One of the benefits is that there should be no dents due to banging the device, which is the opposite to what you have with the necessarily thin metal used, which is strong, but a dent magnet, in many designs, particularly in cheaper devices. Polycarbonate, while like every other plastic, is soft, in fact, it’s noticeably softer than the otherwise much more easily broken acrylic. Both can have anti scratch coating applied, but that substantially increases the cost, and isn’t used with textured finishes. Besides, it wears off on devices that are constantly being fondled by their owners.
  • Threska - Sunday, June 30, 2019 - link

    "Besides, it wears off on devices that are constantly being fondled by their owners."

    Alright everybody, stop "fondling" your phones. People are starting to talk. :-D
  • PeachNCream - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    The lack of microSD is a huge pain in the arse for people that use their phones as primary compute devices. That's been a brain dead move on Google's part for a long time now so it isn't a surprise. Also, mid-range and $400-500? Someone is on some good drugs if they're positioning a device with that kind of price in the middle as it falls in on the lower end of insanity, a fair bit above high priced.
  • UtilityMax - Thursday, August 1, 2019 - link

    So your phone is the primary storage for all your data, documents, music, tax returns, games, etc? Interesting choice..
  • sing_electric - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Even in North America, the value proposition of the Pixels kind of falls apart when you look at actual "street" pricing - Samsung's and LG phones often go on sale for significantly less than their MSRP (even at or near launch), and carriers (and the OEM) tend to fofer more generous trade-ins than Google seems to be willing to do.

    I've seen the S10e - S855, more RAM and more (and faster) storage, wireless charging, multiple cameras - go on sale for $500, just $20 more than the 3a XL, and its screen size slots it directly between the smaller and larger Pixels.

    Not that any of it matters, though, because Google's done such a terrible job marketing the Pixel line that I don't think they'd be a sales hit no matter what...
  • melgross - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Almost nobody buys Pixel labeled products, just as they didn’t buy Nexus labeled products before them,

    I understand that Google is trying to, at least partly, move away from being an advertising company, needing more user data in order to survive. But their hardware is a waste of time. It’s never going anywhere, just like Microsoft’s hardware, other than the XBox, which they’re still losing money on.
  • Speedfriend - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    "Almost nobody buys Pixel labeled products" that is why they were the third best selling phone type in the US and 5th best in western Europe in Q4 2018
  • MadManMark - Monday, July 1, 2019 - link

    All you just did here was demonstrate to knoweldgable readers that we should ignore all the other posts you made to this thread because you simply don't know what you are talking about.
  • darkswordsman17 - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Er, that's a weird argument considering the sales that happened immediately on the Pixel3A. Especially for older Pixel owners (1 or 2) where they were effectively getting it for free after trading in their older Pixel. There's sales on all sorts of phones, so unless its an official MSRP change, then reviewers need to based their value propositions on that. Many people do not quality for some of those sales as it requires new activation or adding a line and good enough credit (or the ability to pay MSRP+tax and then get it back via bill credits). Or various other loops you have to jump through.

    What other marketing do you want them to do? I watch as little content that includes commercials as possible but I saw as many Pixel ads as I saw iPhone ads when I did. Not only that, but its not like they need the marketing, anytime they bring out a new phone the entire tech media discusses it just like they do iPhones and Samsung's phones. They don't sell like either of those, but I don't think that was ever Google's actual intent with the Pixel stuff.
  • UtilityMax - Thursday, August 1, 2019 - link

    All the "cheap" new phones require activation of new line, or contract, or some kind of monthly payment plan. Moreover, the carrier branded LG phones are probably the worst garbage I have seen among android phones.
  • 3DoubleD - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    The article says the Pixel 3a XL compares well to the S835, but the charts show it comparing well to the S845, which is found in the Samsung Galaxy S9+. In fact, the S8/S8+ that would have the S835 SoC isn't even in the chart.
  • Death666Angel - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    The Pixel 2XL which is highlighted has the S835.
  • Ashinjuka - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link

    Thanks for doing this review! When the 3a was announced you guys said you had no plans to review it, so I was really glad to see you take a look at this phone and SoC. This is by far the most interesting phone of the year for me. I know I'm not everyone, but if a device is not getting regular OS updates, it's dead to me.

    I love the headphone jack, the camera, the battery life, and the updates. If I could change one thing about it, it would be an SD card slot or at least more on-board storage.
  • LiverpoolFC5903 - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    Would have been a smashing buy if it had UFS storage instead of emmc. The importance of storage quality in overall usability and perceived smoothness of the phone is often understated. I have a 3 year old LG v20 that feels faster than my new Note 7 pro (SD 675), because of storage.

    The SOC is fine and the camera is very good. The only issue is the storage and unfortunately for me, I will only buy phones with UFS storage from now on, having experienced fast storage in my V20 and Galaxy S9..
  • grant3 - Friday, July 5, 2019 - link

    As a typical phone user who has no clue about UFS vs. EMMC, I can assert: the smoothness of the 3a XL is just fine.
    Obviously some people want more storage, faster memory, etc. and for that, they can choose phones which either trade off other features or cost more.
  • Jon Tseng - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    Spot on with the US vs. RoW conclusions.

    Outside of the US at that price this device is DOA - huge bezels, plastic casing, single cam. We can debate single-cam computational photography vs. brute forcing with triple cam but in the eyes of the average consumer more sensors = better.
  • grant3 - Friday, July 5, 2019 - link

    "in the eyes of the average consumer" they care about image quality; they don't care how it happens.
    That's even if a purchaser is particularly concerned with taking high quality photos on their phone; a huge amount of people are not.
  • psnosignaluk - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    I picked up a standard Pixel 3a because I needed a new phone, and frankly, didn't want to drop £1,000 or near enough on a flagship. I'm glad I saved the money. I use my phone for mail/Slack, on call tools, contactless payments, WhatsApp video calls with the wife overseas, uploading photos to Instagram, browsing the web and listening to music or catching up with YouTube channels on the go. It may not be the fastest or most powerful phone, but damn if you don't get everything you need for a pretty low price. I even like the plastic body. Makes my phone nice and light. Looking forward to the Pixel 4a :)
  • Anirudh2FL - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    The base 3a costs $550 in India
    The regular one, not even the XL

    So, unfortunately not at all a good value here
  • fred666 - Friday, June 28, 2019 - link

    Here in Canada I had the choice between the Pixel 3a or 3a XL, both at CAD $210, or the Galaxy S10e for CAD $310 (including galaxy buds).
    I chose the Samsung, but if I wanted a big screen I would have gotten the 3a XL.

    I think the prices listed in this review are too high.
  • Andrei Frumusanu - Saturday, June 29, 2019 - link

    We only list a device's full price, not carrier plan or financed deals.
  • MadManMark - Monday, July 1, 2019 - link

    Andrei: I, you, and every person in North America could get the 3a for $210 right after it came out, no carrier or financing needed, just by buying directly from Google Store and signing up for a $250 trade-in for an iPhone 6. We just then bought a refurb iPhone 6 from another site for $60 and !voila! you have a Pixel 3a for $210, free and clear. That deal ran for a full month. ***and*** for part of that month, googel aslo threw in a $100 future store credit.
  • UtilityMax - Thursday, August 1, 2019 - link

    Why buy a new car at MSRP when you, and every person in America, could go to an Oprah show a couple years ago and get keys to a new VW car. Duh!
  • SonjaTWilliams - Sunday, June 30, 2019 - link

    nice
  • Rorqual - Monday, July 1, 2019 - link

    I bought a Pixel 3a a few days after its availability, in order to replace an aging Nexus 5X, and am very happy with it.
    - About pricing: there was a promotion and for €400 a Google Home Mini (60 € value) got bundled, so net price for the phone is €340 which is I think not a bad deal for what I get.
    - Plastic casing: for me it's a huge plus. I certainly don't want any glass backpanel, so slippery and fragile. And I'm one of those who don't use a protective case (a few scratches here and there aren't a problem to me).
    - Design: good enough, classic and functional. No notch is mandatory, I can't stand them.
    - Stock Adroid: again, mandatory. I can't stand the Samsung interface, for instance. Some others are more tolerable, but still I prefer stock Android.
    - SoC performance: good enough for my usage, that is browsing, GPS and some random apps (very few games). Way faster then the 5X, everything feels so fluid now.

    So with such specifications, the 3a is a godsend.
  • MadManMark - Monday, July 1, 2019 - link

    "So with such specifications, the 3a is a godsend."

    +1
    Frankly the main thing its missing is an SD slot. But I guess I've finally given up that fight ... I think this is the first phone I've ever had that doesn't have one.
  • InvidiousIgnoramus - Tuesday, July 2, 2019 - link

    "Mid range"
    I remember when this term still referred to $200-300 devices. I paid less than this for my last two flagship devices, and neither were even a year old.
  • grant3 - Friday, July 5, 2019 - link

    In those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Give me five bees for a quarter, you'd say.
  • DontTreadOnMe - Friday, July 5, 2019 - link

    Xiaomi Mi9 may be more competetive on price in Europe, but at the time of writing people are complaining that they are still on the April 2019 security update. This is a consideration that severely restricts choices. The question is: what are the real costs of staying un-patched for longer?
  • pika2000 - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link

    In reality, does updates really mater? I mean in reality, how many Android phones without the most current updates get breached? Considering the marketshare, we would've heard plenty of news about phones on 2018/2017 security patches and/or on Oreo/Nougat and below being breached. But we don't.
  • gronetwork - Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - link

    This is a light version of the Google Pixel 3 XL, the processor has also 8 cores, with lower frequencies, it has the same quantity of RAM memory, the camera is similar, the battery capacity is larger, as well as the battery life. It is a good deal even if the performance is 35% less.

    https://gadgetversus.com/smartphone/google-pixel-3...
  • jonas4562019 - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link

    love this phone but not waterproof is disappointed..
    http://au-customer-service.com
  • Ruchi Arora - Saturday, July 27, 2019 - link

    Check Product Reviews & Buying Guide at <a href="https://askexpert.in/">Ask Expert</a>
  • alex010 - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link

    Hope the pixel 4 comes with such a mid range version
  • master098 - Friday, May 8, 2020 - link

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